Device for the packing flat recording media

ABSTRACT

A device for packing digital media such as discs, CDs and DVDs. The device includes a plastic case made up of at least one tray articulated by a hinge, one of the trays having a holder for at least one disc. It includes a binding formed by a sheet having two main blanks which are shorter than the length of the length of the tray and a spine formed by three sections delimited by creases. The length of the median section substantially matching the thickness of the plastic case and the length of the two lateral sections substantially matching the difference between the length of the shell and the length of the main blank.

The present invention relates to the field of packing discs, inparticular CDs, DVDs, UMD memory cards and, in more general terms, anyrecording medium.

Numerous solutions are known in the state of the art, using cardboardor, more generally, plastic packages. The most commonly used package isthe so-called “jewel box” (trade name) . It consists of two trays madefrom rigid plastic articulated by a hinge formed by two tabs that extendthe edge of one of the trays, interacting with axles provided on theedge of the other tray.

This solution is very fragile and its general appearance is not verysatisfactory.

The present invention aims to solve this drawback by providing asolution that enables solid and elegant packing of flat media, such asdiscs.

Other cases are known in the state of the art. In particular,international patent application WO05106885 relates to a media discpackage including a plurality of disc holding trays arranged in a stack,each tray in the stack having at least one hinging edge, each hingingedge having at least one docking appendage extending therefrom. Abinding clip includes a plurality of segments that are connected to eachother by flexible links, each segment including at least one docktherein for receiving a docking appendage. Adjacent trays in the stackare hinged together by seating one or more respective docking appendagesof each adjacent tray into a correspondingly positioned dock in thebinding clip.

In this patent, an alternative embodiment provides for attachment to thebottom tray of a cover forming a free flap that can be placed over thetop tray. This cover and this flap have a decorative function and do notcontribute to the solidity of the case. Moreover, page 11 of theinternational patent application expressly states that only the bottompart of the cover is attached to the case.

For this purpose, the invention relates, in its most general sense, to adevice for packing flat recording media comprising a plastic case madeup of at least one tray articulated by a hinge, one of the trays havingmeans for holding at least one disc, characterised in that it comprisesa binding formed by a sheet having two main blanks and a spine formed bythree sections delimited by creases. The sheet is attached both to theoutside surface of the bottom tray and to the outside surface of the toptray, the spine on the other hand being at least partially separate fromthe case.

The blanks are shorter than the length of a tray. The length of themedian section of the spine substantially matches the thickness of saidplastic case and the length of the two lateral sections substantiallymatches the difference between the length of the shell and the length ofthe main blank.

Said binding is advantageously attached to the case by gluing each ofthe main blanks to the corresponding shell.

According to one particular variation, at least one of the blanks ofsaid binding is extended by a folding tab on a lateral inner strip ofthe corresponding shell.

The binding preferably has an external crease connecting a blank and alateral section of the spine, and an internal crease connecting thelateral section and a median section of the spine.

According to a variation, one of the blanks has a cut-out that allowsthe surface of the disc to be seen through the transparent shell formingthe plastic case.

The invention will be understood better from reading the followingdescription, which refers to the appended drawings relating to anon-limiting embodiment of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the binding;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section view of the binding;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-section view of the spine of the binding;

FIG. 4 shows a view of the device in open position;

FIGS. 5 to 7 show alternative embodiments of a binding for a packageaccording to the invention.

The invention comprises a CD case and a binding.

The CD case is formed by two plastic trays. At least one of the trayscomprises a dock for holding a disc. One of the trays has two tabs thatextend at the top and bottom edges respectively. The other tray hascomplementary pivots that enter the articulation holes of said tabs.These tabs therefore form an articulation that makes it possible toarticulate the two trays, allowing the case to be opened and closed.

In order to avoid the exertion of excessive force on this articulation,the binding respectively glued to either one of the trays providesrigidity against torsion stress in the event of incorrect use.

The binding is formed by a sheet of cardboard or any other printedmaterial having two blanks (1, 2) and a spine (3). The sheet ofcardboard is, for example, five tenths of a millimetre thick, printed onits outer face.

The spine (3) is formed by a median section (30) extended on either sideby lateral sections (31, 32). The articulation of lateral sections (31,32) to the median section (30) is made by means of internal creases (33,34).

The lateral sections (31, 32) have a length of approximately 5millimetres.

The articulation of the lateral section (31, 32) to the correspondingblank (1, 2) is made by means of an external crease (35, 36).

The overall length of a lateral section of the spine (31, 32) and of ablank (1, 2) substantially matches the length of the shell or traycorresponding to the CD case on which the binding is glued.

This case is preferably made from thermoformed or injected plastic.

According to an alternative embodiment, this overall length is slightlygreater than the length of the tray, for example by around 3millimetres.

Each blank (1, 2) is extended by a folding tab (10, 20) which covers theedge of a tray of the case, and a matching lateral strip on the innersurface of the tray.

FIG. 4 shows a view of a package in open position. The binding is gluedto the case at the level of the blanks (1, 2) and of the outer surfaceof the two trays (15, 25).

The articulation area of the shell is left free to allow the spine (3)to deform when opening and closing the case.

The binding is printed in order to decorate the case. It furtherreinforces the package by limiting the effort exerted on the hinge (40)of the case.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a binding for a CD casepackage. It has two blanks (1, 2) with a length of 132 millimetres each.The spine (3) has three strips (30 to 32) with a length of 12millimetres each, separated by creases with a thickness of 2millimetres. The blanks (1, 2) and the sections (30 to 32) of the spineare extended by tabs (51 to 55 and 61 to 65) folding on the edge of thetrays of the case covered by the binding. The blanks (1, 2) arefurthermore extended by folding tabs (10, 20). These tabs have a widthof 20 millimetres.

FIG. 6 shows a variation in which the tabs (10, 20) extend the blanks(1, 2), having a length similar to that of the blanks (1, 2), or 131millimetres.

FIG. 7 shows another variation for packing DVDs. The spine has a centralsection (30) with a width of 11 millimetres and two lateral sections(31, 32) with a width of 5 millimetres.

1. A device for packing flat recording media comprising a plastic casemade up of at least one tray articulated by a hinge, one of the trayshaving means for holding at least one disc, wherein the device comprisesa binding formed by a sheet having two main blanks and a spine formed bythree sections delimited by creases, said sheet being attached both toan outside surface of a bottom tray and to an outside surface of a toptray, the spine being at least partially separate from the case.
 2. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the two main blanks are shorterthan the length of a tray.
 3. The device according to claim 2, whereinsaid spine is made up of three sections delimited by creases, the lengthof the median section substantially matching the thickness of saidplastic case and the length of the two lateral sections substantiallymatching the difference between the length of the shell and the lengthof the main blank, said binding being attached to the case by gluingeach of the main blanks to the corresponding shell.
 4. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one of the blanks of said bindingis extended by a tab folding on a lateral inner strip of thecorresponding shell.
 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein thebinding preferably has an external crease connecting a blank and alateral section of the spine, and an internal crease connecting thelateral section and a median section of the spine.
 6. The deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the overall length of the blank and of thelateral segment of the spine is slightly greater than the length of theshell.
 7. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of theblanks has a cut-out.